Upma
Local name : उपमा
Coarse semolina dry-roasted then swelled in water, with a tempering of mustard seed and curry leaf.
Photo : Intodustin · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Method
- Dry-roast the semolina in a pan for 5 minutes over medium heat. It should smell nutty without taking colour. Set it aside.
- Heat the oil in the same pan. Pop the mustard seeds, then add the urad dal and curry leaves.
- Add the onion, ginger and chillies. Sweat for 3 minutes until the onion turns translucent.
- Add the carrot and cook for 3 minutes more.
- Pour in the water and salt. Bring to the boil.
- Lower the heat and rain in the semolina with one hand while whisking with the other. Stir without stopping for 3 minutes.
- Cover and let it swell for 5 minutes off the heat. Loosen with a fork, squeeze over the lemon and scatter coriander.
Dry-roasting is the step that decides everything: it dries the surface of each grain so they stay separate instead of clumping. Bansi rava, a medium durum semolina, holds its shape better than the fine semolina sold in supermarkets.
